Conversations with Mama Lopez
by jerzeyredhead
Summary: This continues "Mama Lopez' Rules" – the week Santana is grounded and her mother is working from home. Rated T for mature-ish content and some bad language. Post 3x09. A little bit of Brittany, but mostly Santana and her Mama. This is a happy story!
1. Chapter 1

**Conversations with Mama Lopez**

Author's Note: This continues "Mama Lopez' Rules" – the week Santana is grounded and her mother is working from home. Rated T for mature-ish content and some bad language. Post 3x09. A little bit of Brittany, but mostly Santana and her Mama.

* * *

><p><strong>Monday morning – WMHS Hallway:<strong>

Santana sees Brittany at her locker, getting her books out for her next class.

"Hay Britt," Santana greets her quietly. "How was things with your parents when you got home?"

Brittany half smiled and turned to Santana. "Not too bad. They gave me the 'We're not mad, we're disappointed in you' speech, for lying, which I expected I guess. They're fine though. With me. With us," Brittany shrugged.

Santana breathed a small sigh of relief. "I'm glad Britt. For you. That it's not weird. With your parents. After my mom told them…um…about…you know…" Santana stumbled a bit with her words. It was awkward trying to give her girlfriend comfort and congratulations at the same time.

"I'm not looking forward to _my_ week. Mom's home all week and Dad's away at some medical conference. So it's just me and her. All week. Yeah. This is gonna suck," Santana sighed.

Brittany gave Santana a half hug and a sympathetic pout. "Look San, it could be a good thing. Spending time with your mom. You know, be a little more…open with her…or you two could, I dunno, bond or something," Brittany suggested hesitantly.

Santana looked at Brittany like she had grown a second head.

"Britt, after I told my parents about me and us, Mom and I have a good system. She doesn't ask. I don't tell. We don't 'talk' and have 'heart-to-hearts' like you and your parents. We have an understanding. She doesn't treat me any different. Which means we don't talk about dating. Which is how I like it," Santana explained.

Brittany nodded and forced a small smile. Brittany wished Santana could be more comfortable with her mother. But Santana had to get more comfortable with herself first, Brittany thought.

"San, just give it time," Brittany said, and gave Santana's hand a squeeze and turned away, off to her next class.

Santana stood there, watching her girlfriend walk away, and pursed her lips. Santana couldn't imagine any amount of time that would make her comfortable talking about her feelings with anyone but Brittany, and even that was difficult. Talking about relationships with her mom? Santana chuckled to herself and shook her head at the thought. Snowball's chance in Hell.

**Monday evening – Lopez Home:**

Santana dropped her Cheerios bag just inside the front door. She was tired, but humming a tune to herself, smiling, thinking about the "quality time" she and Brittany shared in the locker room showers after Cheerios practice just an hour ago. She had what can only be described as a giddy smile as she half sung, half hummed a tune. She may be grounded, for the week, but that didn't mean she and Brittany couldn't find some alone time after Cheerios practice.

"For someone who's grounded, you're certainly in a good mood," Mrs. Lopez commented.

Santana snapped out of her happy daze and spun her head around to meet her mother's smirking face.

"God Mama! You scared me. I thought you'd be in your office?" Santana half asked, half commented.

"I'm done for the day. I was just taking a break from making dinner," Mrs. Lopez replied. She stood with her arms loosely crossed around her stomach, giving Santana a questioning look.

"And you didn't answer my question. What's got you in such a good mood? Last time you were grounded I was sure that scowl you had on your face for a week was going to be permanent."

Santana shrugged and turned to the hall closet. "No reason. Just a decent day," she replied, taking off her jacket and hanging it up.

"Need help with dinner?" Santana asked, walking into the kitchen past her mother, not looking at her.

"No thank you," Mrs. Lopez replied, following her daughter into the kitchen, conceding this round of inquiry. "It's in the oven. It'll be ready in a half hour."

Santana grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and nodded. "I'm going to my room then," Santana replied and gave her mother a quick smile and dipped her head, and ascended the stairs.

Mrs. Lopez watched as her daughter went upstairs, her Cheerios skirt bouncing along with her steps. Mrs. Lopez let out a sigh and shook her head, drumming her fingers on the kitchen counter. "This might be a long week," she thought to herself.

/

Mrs. Lopez called Santana down for dinner. Santana promptly appeared, because Santana was actually starving.

"Mmmm, looks great Mama, thanks," Santana smiled, and immediately filled her plate with food.

"You're welcome dear," Mrs. Lopez smiled at her daughter's appetite and lack of pretense. "How was school today?"

"It was fine. Aced my history test," Santana smiled.

"Congratulations Santana," her mother beamed. "I'm so proud of you." Mrs. Lopez took a sip from her wine glass. "Have you decided on a college yet?" she inquired.

Santana paused and chewed her food. Swallowed slowly, and stared at the food she picked at on her plate. "Um, no, not yet. I want to wait and see…" Santana voice faded.

"See about what honey?" Mrs. Lopez looked a little concerned. "Your grades are great. You've had a couple cheerleading scholarship offers from Ohio State AND Michigan," Mrs. Lopez encouraged.

"I know, I just don't know if I want to stay here, in the mid west. No offense," she quickly looked up at her mother. "It's not you, I just…" Santana looked deflated.

Mrs. Lopez folder her hands, and spun her wedding band around her finger idly.

"It's harder for you here," Mrs. Lopez conceded quietly. "Is that it?"

Santana nodded, turning her head to look out the window. Not wanting to look at her mother. That was part of it. The other part was Brittany. Was Britt going to get into college? Would she stay and going to community college first? Would she try out for a dance program like they had talked about over the summer? Santana just didn't know, and it weighed on her.

Mrs. Lopez's heart broke a little with Santana's admission. The toughest part for her, as a mother, was not that Santana was a lesbian, but that, because of that, life was going to be a lot harder for her daughter. Mrs. Lopez had a constant internal struggle: Support her daughter and love her and accept her versus protecting Santana from the hate she'll no doubtedly face. Mrs. Lopez feared Santana's already experienced some of the latter.

"Just so you know, your father and I will support your decision, where ever you choose. On one condition," Mrs. Lopez looked at her daughter, waiting for Santana to meet her gaze.

"Conditions?" Santana looked concerned and confused at the same time.

"Condition. One. It's simple Santana. We'll support your decision on your higher education, but you _do_ have to _choose_ a four-year college or university. You're smart and talented. The world is yours for the taking. So I need you to take it."

Santana nodded in agreement with her mother. She _did_ want to go to a four-year school. She wanted to get out of Lima and make her mark on the world. Santana just couldn't imagine any of it without Brittany. Santana bit her bottom lip, in thought.

Mrs. Lopez noticed this. "Hay, you have time, but I want you to be thinking about it. And Santana, remember, nothing is permanent, and nothing is forever. The decision about what college you go to is important, but it's not the end of the world, even though it seems like it right now. Okay?"

Santana nodded and smiled. "Thanks Mama. I'll think about it, I promise."

"Good, now help me with the dishes," Mrs. Lopez stood up from the table.

Santana rolled her eyes and huffed.

"Drop the attitude and pick up the sponge. You're washing and I'm drying. Come on," Mrs. Lopez encouraged.

Santana and her mother did the dishes in silence. Santana worked on her calculus homework in the den, and Mrs. Lopez turned on the TV in the living room to watch the news and settle in for the evening.

Santana closed her calculus book with a sigh. Her homework was done, and now she didn't know what to do with herself. She had at least two hours before she could convince herself she'd need to go to bed. She usually spent this time with Brittany, on the phone or anything. But no Brittany. No phone. No laptop. Nothing. Santana's leg bounced up and down. What to do, what to do…Santana got up and walked towards the living room. Settling her mind on convincing her mom to let her watch her favorite shows.

/

Mrs. Lopez was sitting on the couch idly flipping channels until she landed on a show about gay teens and bullying. She put the TV remote down and leaned forward to watch and listen. Her mind reeled. Had she missed the signs? Should she have known sooner? Did she work too much?

Mrs. Lopez went though her mental checklist: Santana had excellent grades. She was captain of the Cheerios. She had solos in Glee club. She had friends.

Mrs. Lopez decided that despite her and her husband's work schedules, she doesn't think being around more would've shown any of the depressing signs of a bullied gay teen.

But she new her daughter had been hurting and scared. Mrs. Lopez couldn't get the image of a shaking, nervous Santana out of her mind, when she sat them down and told them she loved girls.

Mrs. Lopez watched sad story after heart-wrenching story on TV about how tough gay teens had it in schools across the country. Mrs. Lopez wiped a tear from her eye. Her stomach turned, thinking about what Santana could go through. Might've gone through, but hadn't told her.

"God, how can people be so cruel?" Mrs. Lopez said aloud. She reached for a tissue and blew her nose.

Santana walked into the living room and saw her mother sniffling at the TV. Then Santana saw what her mother was watching. Some cross between "Intervention" and "It Gets Better" videos. Santana swallowed hard.

"Crap," Santana thought to herself, "Mama's gonna want to talk about me now. Me and Brittany. Oh God." Santana began to step backwards, as quietly as she had entered a few minutes prior.

Everything was smooth as silk, as Santana breathed a little easier. She could feel the stairs that led to her bedroom getting closer and closer, until the area rug got in her way. The edge of the rug met her heel, and she landed abruptly and loudly on her butt.

"Fuck!" Santana yelled in pain.

"Santana! Language!" her mother yelled. "Wait, are you okay? What happened?" Mrs. Lopez asked, getting up from the couch.

Santana got up slowly, "Yeah, I'm okay Mama. I just tripped."

"Honey," Mrs. Lopez bent down to finish helping her daughter stand up. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing. Nothing, just heading up stairs to my room. That's all," Santana quickly blurted out, avoiding eye contact with her mother, who had put a comforting hand on Santana's shoulder.

Mrs. Lopez looked at her daughter, then back at the TV, where the show about gay teens being bullied continued to play. It dawned on her that Santana had been secretly watching her and the TV.

"Honey?" Mrs. Lopez asked quietly, rubbing Santana's back. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Santana folded her arms, and shot her mother a shocked and worried look.

"No Mama," Santana dismissed. "No. I'm fine. I'm good. Really. Everything's great. I'm just tired."

Santana turned away and walked upstairs, not looking back.

Mrs. Lopez looked up after her and sighed. "No one said raising kids was easy, but dammit, I didn't know it was going to be _this_ hard."


	2. Chapter 2

Santana, dressed in her pajamas, sat up in bed reading. She was having a tough time dealing with the fact that her mother was interested in her personal life. Her feelings. Her Brittany. This was getting all too weird and uncomfortable for Santana. So she tried to lose herself in her book.

Mrs. Lopez turned off the TV in the living room and called her husband. They always had a nightly chat when he was away on business. But tonight, she needed to talk to him about Santana.

"Hi baby," Dr. Lopez happily greeted.

"Hi there," Mrs. Lopez replied. "How's the conference?"

"Oh you know, plenty of boring presentations, but it's nice to catch up with some long distance colleagues though," Dr. Lopez said. "How's things at home? Santana sulking and scowling through her grounding?" Dr. Lopez asked with a chuckle.

Mrs. Lopez sighed, "Actually no. She came home in a great mood today. Got an A on her history test, and she was overall good," Mrs. Lopez explained.

"I hear a 'but' coming," Dr. Lopez replied.

"Yeah, well, I think Santana's going through some…adjustments…to being out," Mrs. Lopez sighed.

"How so? Did something happen at school? Bullying?" Dr. Lopez ask with concern.

"No nothing like that, well, at least, I don't think so. I think it has to do with us. Or herself actually. Santana, as you know, is not exactly one to open up and talk about her feelings, or her personal life,"

"That's putting it mildly," Dr. Lopez interjected.

"Yes, well, I think she's working on getting comfortable with herself, and that means being comfortable with us and her dating Brittany, and us knowing about it, and well…she saw me watching a program on TV tonight about gay teens and bullying and, she tried to hide it, but she looked like a deer caught in headlights. So afraid of me, me knowing about her. I…I dunno. It's just awkward," Mrs. Lopez resigned.

"Oh baby, look. One, she's a teenager, so she's just one big confused hormone bomb to begin with. Two, since she's Santana, she has to put this front up that everything is okay even when it's not. You know that. AND you caught her and Brittany all naked and post-sex in the house. So, you know, awkwardness is piled up on top of awkwardness for her right now," Dr. Lopez reasoned.

"And me. I really want to erase that image out of my head. I really do. She's my little girl," Mrs. Lopez whined.

"Better you than me to discover that scene, because even though I think Brittany is a sweet girl, who's good for Santana, I'd rather my little girl be locked away in a convent than know about her love life," Mr. Lopez sighed. "And look baby, I think you should talk to Santana. Really. You're much better at the emotional stuff. I'm too clinical and my eye-contact is hardly better than our daughter's, so I know you'll be much better, and in the end, much more appreciated than me."

Mrs. Lopez nodded in agreement with her husband, "I know. I just don't know what to say. How to start, you know?"

"Start with the gay teen bullying thing, or start with Brittany or start with her coming out to us and just do a 'check-up' with her," Dr. Lopez advised.

"You mean 'check-in' with her," Mrs. Lopez clarified dryly.

"Yes, of course. You know, I'm in doctor mode," Dr. Lopez laughed. "Anyway, you are her mother. No matter what Santana says, or how uncomfortable she gets, your opinion matters to her. If it didn't, she wouldn't have almost passed out coming out to us last month, and she would have told us a LOT sooner about her and Brittany."

"True," Mrs. Lopez agreed. "Alright baby, I'll let you go. I'm going to face the music and try to start something…anything with her."

"Good luck and I know you'll be great. No matter what," Dr. Lopez encouraged.

"Thanks. Goodnight. I love you," Mrs. Lopez replied.

"Love you too," Dr. Lopez hung up the phone.

/

Santana heard light footsteps come up the stairs and stop at her door. Outside, Mrs. Lopez took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She lightly knocked, and held her breath again, waiting for a reply.

Santana's eyes didn't leave the page she was reading. She felt semi-paralyzed, not knowing what her mother's intentions were on the other side of the door. Sadly, Santana decided, ignoring her wouldn't make her go away.

Mrs. Lopez heard a soft, "Come in" from the other side of the door. She smiled to herself. Step one accomplished.

Santana watched the brass doorknob turn and raised her gaze to meet her mother's peaking through the door. Her mother had a hesitant, but kind look to her face at that moment. Santana smiled back, then realized that was her mother's "Want to talk about it?" face. Shit. Santana's face fell a bit.

"What's up Mama?" Santana asked, trying to sound casual, but the crack in her voice gave her away.

"Hay honey, I was just checking in," Mrs. Lopez said sweetly and softly. She noticed Santana reading a Harry Potter book and sighed. Santana read those when she needed some comfort.

"I told you I was fine Mama. I just fell on my ass," Santana tried to dismiss her.

"I wasn't checking in on your backside. I was checking in on you. You looked…upset about what I was watching on TV," Mrs. Lopez walked closer to the bed. "May I sit?"

Santana looked up from her book at her mother, and nodded for her to sit. Santana's eyes immediately went back to her book, and sucked her bottom lip into her mouth.

"Are you having a tough time at school, with…people knowing?" Mrs. Lopez gently prodded.

Santana didn't look up from her book, but let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "No Mama," Santana replied.

Mrs. Lopez sat in silence, and waited. She knew there was more.

Santana shifted her legs under the sheets. This not talking thing was rivaling talking when it came to her level of discomfort. "Not really Mama," Santana continued. "There was some stuff, when the ad aired, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle," Santana admitted, and squirmed a bit more, still staring at the same page in her book.

"What kind of stuff?" Mrs. Lopez prodded.

Santana sighed, "Typical stupid guy stuff. Offering to 'straighten me out'," Santana admitted. "But Britt and the girls were right there for me and put him in his place," Santana smirked a bit remembering.

"You have good friends, don't you?" Mrs. Lopez commented.

"Yeah," Santana agreed. "They look out for me." Santana looked at her mother, trying to recover from the 'weak' confession. "Not that I need that, because honest Mama, I'm doing fine. Really. I'm good," Santana quickly added.

Mrs. Lopez smiled, "So, from what I'm getting, you're not being bullied, aside from the whole political ad debacle, and you have good friends."

"Yep. That about sums it up," Santana says with finality. Santana hopes this conversation has now satisfied her mother's sudden need to "mother" her.

"Something's still bothering you," Mrs. Lopez pushed. "I can tell."

Santana cocked an eyebrow and looked up at her mother. "Really Mama? You're going there, are you?"

"Yep," Mrs. Lopez stated plainly.

Santana resigned. "I don't like people knowing my personal business. And that's shot now that I was outed. So yeah..."

Mrs. Lopez nodded and played with the comforter threads. "You lost control. You lost control of the one thing you could control. You weren't ready."

Santana nodded. Her eyes stung with tears.

Mrs. Lopez scooted up the bed next to her daughter, set her book aside and enveloped Santana in a warm, firm hug.

Mrs. Lopez whispered in her ear, "I love you Santana. So much. Your father and I both do. And what you can control now, is not how others see you, but how you see yourself."

Santana nodded into her mother's shoulder, sniffling.

Mrs. Lopez pulled back and cradled her daughter's face in her hands, rubbing a tear away with her thumb.

"How's Brittany doing with all of this?" Mrs. Lopez asked.

Santana chuckled, "Britt never cared what other people think, and she never thought it was weird to like girls. She's Britt, you know? So, she's all good with herself and me and people knowing. She's wanted people to know for a long time," Santana admitted.

Mrs. Lopez made a mental note to herself to ask later, "How long is a long time?

"Sounds like Brittany. And it sounds like she can teach you something about worrying about what people think. I'll tell you this much. You can worry about what people think. Just make sure they're the people that really matter."

With that, Mrs. Lopez kissed her daughters forehead and gave her another hug. She got up and walked to the door.

"Mama?" Santana called after her.

Mrs. Lopez turned to face Santana.

"Thanks…for…um…thanks," Santana half-smiled.

Mrs. Lopez's heart swelled.

"Of course, sweetheart. Anytime," Mrs. Lopez smiled and turned back to leave.

"And by anytime, I really mean, we're going to talk like this more. Fair warning," Mrs. Lopez threw Santana a raised eyebrow and a smirk, and shut the door.

Santana dropped her head back against the headboard, defeated. Closed her eyes, and allowed herself a little smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tuesday Afternoon – WMHS **

Coach Sylvester had been relentless during practice that day. The girls were exhausted and Santana was looking forward to just going home and collapsing. Coach pulled Santana into her office to have a meeting with her and Becky after practice. Brittany waited outside for Santana to finish up. Santana emerged from Coach Sylvester office with a huff.

"What's wrong San?" Brittany asked as she held out her pinky for Santana to take.

Santana clasped Brittany's hand instead with a smile and began walking down the hall, "Coach wants me to be harder on the younger girls. She doesn't think I'm being tough enough on them."

"But you made that Jenny girl cry yesterday," Brittany offered.

"Yeah, but then Coach saw me help her with a move today, and, instead of being a cold hearted bitch and yelling at her to get it right, I might have…um…" Santana looked up at the ceiling tiles, "I patted her on the back, okay? God, it was like a stupid reflex or something," Santana confessed and stared ahead.

Brittany squeezed Santana's hand and looked sideways at her and smiled.

"I bet Jenny appreciated that a lot more," Brittany consoled.

Santana nodded, "Yeah, well Coach didn't. I guess I'm just going to have to back off on the encouragement, eh?"

"Or, you just have to be sneakier about it," Britt smiled back.

Santana chuckled, "Yeah, I might be able to manage that. We're pretty good at sneaky."

Brittany winked at her. "Come on. Everyone should be done with their showers now, which means I can sneakily make you feel all kinds of better."

Santana grinned, as they entered the locker room. Sexy times with Britt was Santana cure for all ills. As they got their shower caddies and towels and walked towards the shower room, Santana couldn't help but hear a LOT of voices. Far too many voices for an hour after Cheerios practice.

"Shit," Santana uttered.

The girl's basketball team was a lively bunch and they were hogging the showers, and just put a damper on Brittany's plans.

"We could wait a bit," Brittany offered.

Santana sighed, "We can't. If I don't catch the late bus and be home by 6, my mom is _not_ going to be happy."

Brittany stuck her bottom lip out in that adorable pout that makes Santana's heart melt.

"I'm so sorry Britt. Looks like regular old showers for us tonight."

"I'm going to have to make mine a cold one," Brittany pouted.

"You and me both," Santana agreed.

Santana and Brittany entered the shower room and found two recently vacated showerheads next to each other in the open tiled room. The basketball girls were busy showering and talking amongst themselves. They were reliving their win against Carmel High.

Santana and Brittany hung up their towels and stood under the water. Santana stared straight ahead and studied the details of the hot and cold taps. Santana was hyper-aware of the other girls, and didn't want to be caught looking at anyone. Not even Britt. Ever since she was outed, Santana found the locker room to be a minefield of problems she had to avoid. Plus, looking at Brittany in the shower was just going to frustrate Santana to no end, and she didn't need to punish herself any further.

Brittany, on the other hand, had no qualms about checking out her girlfriend with sideways glances as they showered. Santana could feel her girlfriend's eyes on her, and she instantly blushed.

Santana quickly finished her shower, dried off and dressed. Brittany soon followed. Once they were both dressed and walking out of the locker room, Santana gave Brittany a playful, yet firm shove of her shoulder.

"Hay! What was that for?" Brittany complained.

"_That_ was for eyeing my goods in the shower Britt. You _know_ what that does to me. You weren't playing fair," Santana chided.

Brittany had a self-satisfied grin plastered across her face. "Couldn't help it. Plus, I figured I'd give you something to think about for when you go to bed tonight," Brittany winked.

Santana rolled her eyes with a smile at her girlfriend.

"Britt, to be honest, I really don't need 'help' with the visuals when it comes to you and me. And, we're already grounded for the rest of the week. Which also means no cars to make out and stuff in. AND we now have the new and awful 'open-door policy' for our bedrooms. Trust me. My sexual frustration is already high, and I have to wait until Saturday to get my car back, so we can escape my mother's newly acquired interest in my personal life."

/

**Tuesday evening – Lopez home**

Santana arrived home on time, and bounced upstairs to change out of her uniform and into jeans and a sweatshirt.

Mrs. Lopez looked up at the clock in her office and smiled. "Home on time two days in a row. This has got to be a record," she thought.

The house phone rang and Santana bolted down the stairs, "I got it!" she yelled.

Mrs. Lopez shook her head and chuckled to herself.

She heard her daughter's muffled voice coming from the kitchen. Then she saw Santana's head pop into her office doorway.

"Mama? I'm sorry, are you busy?" Santana sweetly asked.

"I'm just finishing up honey, what is it?"

"Um, Britt needs help with her English homework, and I don't have any, because I finished it in study hall, and I had the same class last semester, and it's Shakespeare and you know I'm really good at that and totally aced it, and you know Britt is really literal-minded, so all the old English and metaphors and stuff are really stumping her, so I was wondering, well we were wondering, if it's okay, if she comes over, after dinner, so I can help her, with her homework. Just homework. That's it. Please?"

Mrs. Lopez congratulated herself on keeping a straight face throughout Santana's pleading rant. "God that girl has got it bad," Mrs. Lopez thought to herself.

"Let me talk to Brittany," Mrs. Lopez said, hand outstretched for the phone.

Santana didn't move.

"Santana. Phone. Now," she repeated.

"Hay Britt, my mom wants to talk to you," Santana said, and handed the phone to her mother.

"Go set the table Santana, I'll be out in a minute," Mrs. Lopez dismissed her.

Again, Santana didn't move.

"Santana, don't make me ask you again, or I won't even consider letting Brittany come over,"

Santana darted into the kitchen.

"Brittany?"

"Hi Mrs. L!" Brittany cheerfully greeted.

"Hello dear. Can you put your mom on the phone for me?"

"Sure!"

Mrs. Lopez winced as Brittany absentmindedly dropped the phone on the counter and created a loud bang into Mrs. Lopez's ear.

"Hello?" Mrs. Pierce greeted.

"Hay Susan, it's Ileana. So my daughter says your daughter needs help with her English homework. Just checking in to see if that's the truth or a cover story," Mrs. Lopez chuckled.

Mrs. Pierce laughed, "It's actually true. I tried to help Brittany, but my Shakespeare is sadly very rusty. It's been more than 25 years since I've had to read it, let alone decipher the meanings of prose."

"Me too," Mrs. Lopez agreed. "Okay, so if you don't mind, I don't have a problem with Brittany coming over if you want to drop her off."

"Sure, we'll finish dinner and be over by 7, okay?"

"Sounds good Sue. See you soon," Mrs. Lopez smiled and hung up the phone.

/

Mrs. Lopez entered the kitchen and put the dinner on the table. Santana sat looking at her mother expectantly. Mrs. Lopez, not letting an opportunity to push her daughter's buttons slide, didn't look at her daughter.

"So how was school today?" Mrs. Lopez inquired nonchalantly.

Santana, sensing her mother was going to drag this out, answered in the same tone.

"Fine," she shrugged. Two could play this game, she thought.

"Any good songs in Glee club?" Mrs. Lopez continued.

"Meh, we haven't decided yet. Regionals are coming up, and we've got a few ideas, but we can't decide on a theme. But that's typical. It'll be last minute," Santana replied.

"Well I'm sure you'll be great. You always are," Mrs. Lopez praised.

They ate in silence. Santana cleared the dishes and filled the dishwasher. Mrs. Lopez busied herself wrapping up the leftovers. As Mrs. Lopez stood with her head in the refrigerator, rearranging items to fit the leftovers, she casually mentioned,

"Brittany will be over at 7."

Santana shut the dishwasher door and let out a whispered, yet enthusiastic, "Yes!"

This did not go unnoticed by Mrs. Lopez. She peeked from behind the refrigerator door and saw her daughter, still with her back to her, smoothing out her hair.

"It's homework, not a date Santana. Remember that," Mrs. Lopez reminded her sternly.

Santana's hands immediately went into her jeans' pockets.

"Yeah, I know. It's cool," Santana said as she walked out of the kitchen and smiled a thank you at her mother.

Santana ran upstairs to check her look in the mirror. She had 15 minutes before Britt arrived. She put in some dangling earrings, dabbed on a little perfume, reapplied some lip gloss and nodded in satisfaction at her look in the mirror.

Her mind wandered to when she last saw Brittany in the showers and felt a little flushed, and annoyed. "That girl is going to be the death of me. God she's a tease," Santana complained to herself. But then she had an idea of how to get Brittany back with a little of her own medicine.

Santana took off her sweatshirt, took off her bra, and put a dark button-down shirt on, and buttoned it only halfway. Santana smirked at herself, and thought of how distracting she'd be to Britt.

The doorbell rang and Santana raced to the stairs to answer the door. "I'll get it!" she yelled as she made her way down the stairs.

Mrs. Lopez appeared at the bottom of the stairs and startled Santana.

"Where's the fire, Santana? The last time I saw you this excited over homework I think you were 8," Mrs. Lopez teased.

"Just don't want to waste anytime, you know, for Brittany. I want her to do well on her English assignment," Santana explained.

"Oh really," Mrs. Lopez cocked an eyebrow, appraising her daughter's outfit. "Then I suggest you go back upstairs, and put a turtleneck and sweater on, because that shirt is not homework appropriate."

"What? What's wrong with a long sleeved, button-down shirt?" Santana questioned, trying to be as innocent as possible.

"One, because you're more 'buttoned down than buttoned up'. Two, and I'd say more importantly, you seem to have forgotten to put a bra on," Mrs. Lopez explained. "I'm pretty sure that's not going to help Brittany with Shakespeare, so go upstairs and change and I'll get the door," Mrs. Lopez dismissed her.

Santana slapped her hand to her chest in mock shock, but the redness creeping up her neck and ears gave her away.

"Don't feign innocence, because you're far from it when it comes to that girl," Mrs. Lopez said as she walked to the front door.

/

Santana emerged from her bedroom in the sweatshirt and bra she had on earlier. She found Brittany opening her notebook and flipping to her latest notes. Next to her was a steaming mug of hot chocolate her mother must have made for her. Another mug of cocoa sat across from it, ready for Santana. She smiled at her mother's gesture.

"Hay Britt Britt," Santana sweetly greeted her girlfriend.

Brittany looked up and smiled. "Hay there."

Santana leaned in and gave Brittany a peck on the lips. "Mmmmm, raspberry?"

"Your favorite Lip Smacker," Brittany grinned.

"That it is," Santana replied.

Santana settled in across from Brittany, sipping her cocoa.

"So, where are you stuck?"

Brittany showed her the passages she was supposed to explain, and Santana scanned them and nodded.

"Why can't they just write it in English?" Brittany whined.

"Because Britt, this _was_ written in English. Just late 1500s English. It's really a lot more like poetry, than a novel or play. So, the easiest way to read this and understand it is to visualize it."

Brittany scrunched up her face.

"Here. Close your eyes Britt," Santana requested.

Brittany smiled and closed her eyes.

"Now, I'm going to read this to you, and I want you to just picture it, not think about the words. I want you to just see pictures in your head and tell me what you see, okay?"

Brittany nodded.

Santana proceed to quietly read the passage, letting the poetry and prose roll off her tongue and into Brittany's ears. Brittany concentrated on the words and formed a scene in her mind and smiled.

Mrs. Lopez finished watching her program and turned the volume down. She listened to her daughter read Shakespeare to Brittany and smiled.

"So sweet," she thought.

Santana finished reading and Brittany opened her eyes and started writing down what she saw, and tried to organize her thoughts from all the pictures in her head. Santana watched Brittany write, as she sipped her hot chocolate. Brittany spun her notebook around for Santana to read her work.

Santana looked over her notes and nodded. Brittany got most of it right. Santana smiled and gave Brittany a wink.

"Nice Britt. We should just go over this one line," Santana encouraged.

They worked on Brittany's homework for another hour. Mrs. Lopez listened from the next room and sighed. She loved how patient and caring Santana was with Brittany. It reminded Mrs. Lopez of when Santana was little, before she hit puberty and grew an attitude bigger than Ohio.

Santana and Brittany closed the books and broke out the whipped cream to add to their second mugs of hot cocoa. Mrs. Lopez heard giggling from the kitchen and snuck closer to see what trouble the girls may be getting up to.

Brittany was leaning with her back to the stove, and Santana had her arms wrapped around Brittany's waist, leaned up on her toes and licked a dollop of whipped cream off of Brittany's nose. Then Brittany leaned in and kissed Santana. The giggling soon stopped and their hands started to wander as the kiss deepened.

"Ahem!" Mrs. Lopez cleared her throat loudly.

Santana and Brittany broke their kiss and stepped back from each other, but still held each other's hands. They both had their heads down.

"Sorry Mrs. L," whispered Brittany as she looked sideways at Santana's mother.

Santana found her shoes fascinating at this moment.

"What happened to Shakespeare?" Mrs. Lopez inquired.

"We're done," Brittany cheerfully replied. She looked very proud of herself.

"I see that," Mrs. Lopez tapped her foot. "I'm going to call your mother Brittany to pick you up."

Mrs. Lopez hung up the phone after conferring with Mrs. Pierce.

"Okay girls, I have to finish some work in my office. You have 15 minutes until Mrs. Pierce is here," Mrs. Lopez walked into her office and closed the door.

Brittany and Santana looked at each other stunned.

"Did your mom just basically…" Brittany raised her eyebrows questioning Santana.

"Uh, I don't…I think so…Oh hell, I'm not going to ask," Santana blurted out.

Santana pulled Brittany over to the living room couch to squeeze in as much fooling around as they could in 15 minutes.

Mrs. Lopez listened at her office door and heard the leather of the couch creek and moan with their weight. Mrs. Lopez shook her head and smiled. "They didn't waste one second," she sighed to herself.

The doorbell rang. Brittany and Santana shot up from the couch. Mrs. Lopez emerged from her office just in time to see Brittany and Santana straightening their hair and shirts out and attempting to look as innocent as possible.

Mrs. Lopez shook her head and smiled and greeted Mrs. Pierce at the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Tuesday evening – Lopez Home**

Mrs. Lopez let Mrs. Pierce into her home. Mrs. Pierce looked over to Santana and Brittany, who are just standing up from the couch.

"Hi girls! How was Shakespeare?"

"Fine Mom," Brittany smiled. "Santana was super helpful."

Mrs. Pierce looked over at Mrs. Lopez. Mrs. Lopez gave her a quick smirk.

"I'm sure Santana was very helpful honey," Mrs. Pierce said with a smile toward Brittany, then looked at Santana.

Santana smiled at her, then looked away. She couldn't quite place Mrs. Pierce's look, but she didn't like it.

"Why do mothers always seem to know shit," Santana thought to herself. "This is why I don't spend a lot of time with them. They're like emotional ninjas."

"Let's go Brittany," her mother suggested with a smile. "Thanks again for hosting the study session Ileana, and thanks for helping Santana."

Brittany gave Santana a hug and a quick peck on the lips, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night," Santana replied with a sigh and a smile.

/

Santana flopped back down on the couch and straightened the cushions that had gone askew from her make-out session with Brittany. Mrs. Lopez joined her on the couch, holding two mugs of herbal tea.

Santana took the mug from her mother and smiled.

"I want to talk to you about Brittany," Mrs. Lopez firmly stated.

"What?" Santana slowly turned her head to look at her mother.

Mrs. Lopez took a breath and looked at Santana. "I want to talk to you about your relationship with Brittany."

"I think I just threw up in my mouth a little," Santana replied.

"Santana, I'm serious," her mother implored.

"Seriously, I'm not joking. My stomach is doing all sorts of weird things right now," Santana explained.

"It's called being nervous and uncomfortable, and I'm not fairing much better, but we need to talk about this?"

"Why? You never wanted to before, and Britt and I have been friends for years." Santana was equally annoyed and hurt.

"Because you two were friends, not girlfriends, and you and I have never had a 'mother-daughter' talk, and it's high time we did," Mrs. Lopez didn't back down.

"Um Mama, I already know about sex. So we're good. No need for 'The Talk'," Santana said while attempting to get up.

Mrs. Lopez gently pulled her back to the couch by her hand. "I'm well aware of your knowledge of sex Santana," she said pointedly.

Santana's mouth dropped open, then closed. "This really isn't a…"

"I don't want to talk to you about sex Santana," Mrs. Lopez interrupted. "Lord knows, I really, _really_ don't want to do that. I want to talk to you about your _relationship_ with Brittany. And I want you to know it's not something you should feel you have to hide from me."

"I'm not hiding anything," Santana retorted. "I told you about me and Britt."

"Yes and you also said that if it were up to Brittany you would've come out a long time ago. So, how long have you two been dating?"

"We officially started in November."

"And unofficially? How long have you two been _more_ than friends?" Mrs. Lopez gently asked.

"What do you think? You said you _knew_ something was up when I came out, so how long Mama? When did you know?" Santana challenged.

Mrs. Lopez could see the path Santana was trying to walk her down. Blame her for not being around enough. But Mrs. Lopez knew better, and had a rough idea when _something_ started. She took a chance.

"At least since sophomore year," Mrs. Lopez locked eyes with Santana.

"And you never said anything," Santana scoffed. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"So it's true," Mrs. Lopez confirmed.

"Yeah, but it wasn't…we weren't…" Santana studied her lap, her voice faded. "I didn't think I was gay," Santana confessed. "We still dated guys."

Mrs. Lopez put her hand on top of Santana's hand that rested in her lap. "You didn't want to be gay," Mrs. Lopez clarified. "Honey, I had an inkling, a suspicion, that you and Brittany's sleepovers _may_ have entailed more than doing each others nails and taking Cosmo quizzes. But I wasn't sure"

"How? We were…"

"Really careful?" Mrs. Lopez finished Santana's thought.

Santana nodded.

"The way you treated Brittany. The way your face lit up when you talked about her. The way you looked at her. You never did anything close to that with your other friends that were over," Mrs. Lopez explained.

"Is that it? Looks and being nice? She's my best friend!" Santana couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Everyone has a best friend Santana, and none of us look at them the way you look at Brittany, no matter how much we love them. And that's the difference."

Santana thought for a long moment. "You really got that Brittany and I were…fooling around…from looks?" Santana was so sure she covered her tracks so well from everyone. "You and Dad both work _so_ much. How could you possibly…?"

"Do you _really_ want to hear about the time I got up in the middle of the night for a glass of water and heard you and Brittany doing anything _but_ sleeping in your room?"

Santana shook her head back and forth. Her ears and face felt like they were on fire.

"Good, because I certainly don't want to talk about that either," Mrs. Lopez smiled at Santana.

Santana caught her look and smiled nervously back.

"So wait," a thought dawned on Santana, "You heard me and Brittany…doing…stuff, and you still let her sleep over? And now we have an 'open door policy'? Why? Because that really doesn't seem fair. At all," Santana argued her case.

"Because at the time, I didn't know if it was a one-time thing? Experimenting? Curiosity? You were 15. I wasn't about to slap a label on you and treat you differently, when I didn't know if there was anything _really_ going on. I was on the 'wait and see' plan. Plus, I naively thought that there'd be some moment or sign, or _something_ that would clear everything up. But I have a feeling you know better than me, that that's not what really happens."

Santana chuckled bitterly. "I wish that's how it happened. Just wake up and know and be okay with it, but no. It's all messy and hard and confusing and embarrassing and scary and, yeah, it sucks," Santana agreed, relaxing a bit.

"So how did you and Brittany get to where you are now? What happened? When did you _know_?" Mrs. Lopez gently prodded, trying to shift the conversation to something she could only assume was a happier topic.

Santana smiled and frowned at the same time. "Um, last March I told her I loved her, and that I didn't want to date guys anymore. The problem was, she was dating Wheels."

Mrs. Lopez frowned and looked at her questioningly.

"Artie. Artie, the kid in the wheelchair in Glee club," Santana explained. Mrs. Lopez nodded.

"Anyway, she wouldn't break up with him. Well, not then. So I tried to convince her to choose me and dump him."

"You wooed her," Mrs. Lopez smiled.

"Wooed? No, no Mama. I don't woo. And who says that nowadays anyway? Wooed. No," Santana was emphatic.

"So courted is out too then huh?" Mrs. Lopez joked.

Santana rolled her eyes at her mother, "Just stop trying Mama, and let me finish telling this. Appreciate the moment, okay?" Santana smiled.

"Anyway, I did a bunch of romantic stuff and still nothing. Then Artie called her stupid and she broke up with him," Santana smiled.

"When did that happen?"

"Like, last April or May. Before New York."

"So you started dating Brittany before the end of last school year?" Mrs. Lopez was looking for clarification.

"Um, no, not really. We were in this weird limbo. We both wanted to be with each other, but Brittany didn't want to hide our relationship, and I really wasn't ready to go public. So, I promised her I'd work on it. So this summer we were…um…more than friends, but still kind of finding our way," Santana looked up at her mother and smiled sweetly.

She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with her mom and not breaking out in hives.

"Mama? What brought this all on? I mean, the sudden interest in me?" Santana asked.

"Oh honey, I've always been interested in you and your life. But you were always so private. And you were doing so well in school and with your clubs and had good friends, I just really didn't worry or well, I thought you were just having a good, happy teenage life. So I didn't ask and you didn't tell," Mrs. Lopez explained.

Santana nodded in understanding.

Mrs. Lopez continued, "Look, you've had a really rough couple of months, with coming out and getting outed and dating Brittany and your abuela, and the Trouble Tones ending, and it just made me think about all the time before that, when you were in the closet, how hard that must've been for you, and you didn't feel like you could talk to me. And I'm really sorry I didn't do this sooner."

Santana studied her mother's apologetic face, her eyes moistened with unshed tears. Santana softened up immediately.

"Mama, please. It's not your fault. I got really good at not dealing with…me, and putting a really good image out there. And honestly Mama, if you had come to me a year ago or when you suspected something…I would've denied it until the end of time. Seriously," Santana explained.

"So, it's not too late? For you and me? Us? To talk and…I don't know…," Mrs. Lopez rubbed her thumb into her palm. "…me be a good a Mom?"

Santana immediately hugged her mother in a tight bear hug.

"You're good Mama. We're good," Santana whispered in her ear. "Better late than never," Santana pulled back and smiled. "This is still incredibly awkward, just so you know, but I'll try to work on that, okay?"

"Me too sweetheart. I promise," smiled Mrs. Lopez.

Santana got up and headed to the stairs. She paused and turned around, "Mama, you still didn't really answer my question. Why do I have an open-door policy now?"

Mrs. Lopez turned to her daughter, "Because when you came out to us, you asked us, begged us, not to treat you any differently. And those were the rules if you had a boy over, so it applies to Brittany now. The rule is there, because frankly, you asked for it," Mrs. Lopez smirked.

Santana looked down, taking in the information, then started walking up the stairs.

"Way to fuckin' go Lopez," she breathed to herself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Wednesday morning – Lopez Home**

The coffee pot had finished brewing, and Mrs. Lopez poured herself a cup of black coffee. She reached for the sugar and scooped two spoonfuls in and stirred. She felt good after her talk with Santana the night before, but it wasn't entirely a comfortable good. She was rediscovering her daughter, or discovering her for the first time. It unsettled her that she was learning all this new information about Santana. It was good, but new and it was going to take some getting used to. But she knew it was a good thing. Just a new good thing.

Santana slouched down the stairs and slumped into the bar stool at the kitchen island. Her uniform pressed, her hair in a high ponytail, her make-up perfect. So it always amazed Mrs. Lopez how her daughter could do all that with her eyes barely open, as they were right now.

Mrs. Lopez poured Santana a mug of coffee, and reached for the sugar.

"No sugar Mama," Santana grumbled.

"Since when?"

"Since all that hot chocolate last night. I feel like my skin is still humming," Santana explained. "Plus, if I remove sugar from my coffee, I can justify more sugary treats, which Brittany insists on," Santana half-smiled, sipping her black, bitter coffee.

Santana's face scrunched up, "Okay, maybe some milk then to take the edge off."

"So what do you have going on at school today?" Mrs. Lopez asked, as she made Santana an egg, cheese and bacon English muffin.

"Calculus test, Glee club and then helping Brittany with a project," Santana sipped her coffee, her eyes still half closed.

"What kind of project honey?" Mrs. Lopez asked.

"I actually don't know," Santana chuckled. "She just said she needed my help with a special project. I can't think of anything in any of her classes that she'd need to work on. And if it was Glee choreography, she'd ask Mike Chang, not me," Santana explained. "So, I'm meeting Britt in the auditorium, after school."

"What about Cheerios practice? Sue Sylvester doesn't take kindly to absenteeism as I recall," Mrs. Lopez prodded. She was getting suspicious of Santana's need to stay after school with Brittany and _not_ be at Cheerios practice.

"Funny thing. Ever since that ad ran, Coach feels guilty, which, I really didn't think she could. And since we're seniors, she let's us out of practice if we have a good excuse. I mean, she still gives us a rash of shit, for a good week afterwards too, but she occasionally gets some weird benevolent side and excuses us."

"Watch your language Santana," Mrs. Lopez chided.

"Sorry Mama," Santana apologized weakly. She really wasn't that sorry.

"So what's the excuse, 'special project'?"

"I honestly have no idea what Brittany told Coach. I just know, because of what Britt said, we're excused, so I'm not questioning it," Santana concluded. She swallowed the last of her coffee and dug into her breakfast sandwich.

"Well your curfew still applies young lady. In this house by 6pm until Friday," Mrs. Lopez reminded her.

"_Until_ Friday?" Santana was awake enough to hear that slip up.

"_Through_ Friday. You're grounded _through_ Friday. As of Saturday morning, when you get up, you will no longer be held hostage by your mother," Mrs. Lopez smiled.

"Three more days…"Santana whispered.

"You make it sound like a lifetime," Mrs. Lopez chided.

"And you can easily be re-grounded if you break your regular curfew or if God-forbid, I find you and Brittany like I did last weekend. You got it?" Mrs. Lopez stared at Santana, waiting for a reply.

"I got it Mama. But you know, I don't know why you're making such a big deal about it…I mean…it's not like I can get pregnant. And you like Brittany…and…"

"It's not about getting pregnant, though I'll give you that. You being a lesbian takes that constant dread out of my head. It's about you respecting our home and your father and I. I know you're 17. I know you've had sex and will again, probably as soon as you have the opportunity. But that doesn't mean I'm condoning it, and it certainly doesn't mean I'm going to make it easy for you to get it. Got it?"

Santana swallowed the last of her breakfast sandwich. "Got it Mama," Santana sighed.

Mrs. Lopez kissed Santana on the top of her head and made her way towards her office.

"Have a good day at school sweetie,"

**Wednesday Afternoon – WMHS Auditorium**

Santana walked down the aisle of the auditorium toward the stage. She saw an A/V club kid messing with a video camera and sneered at him. Other than "super-nerd" there was no one else around.

"Britt?" Santana called. "Brittany?" she called louder.

"Over here," she heard faintly from the wings of the stage.

Santana smiled and climbed onto the stage and crossed over to the wing where Brittany was doing warm up stretches.

"Britt, what are you doing?" Santana looked a little confused.

Brittany stood up, gave Santana a hug and a sweet kiss. "Getting ready for my special project, silly," she said with a smile.

"Um, yeah, I've been meaning to ask you about that. Since you got us out of Cheerios practice, I really didn't care, but now that I'm here, I don't get why I'm here. Not that I'm not happy to see you. I am. Happy," Santana stumbled. After all this time, Brittany's kisses still somehow short-circuited all the connections between Santana's brain and mouth.

Brittany smiled, "I wanted to surprise you, and I wanted your opinion. That's you helping me. Your opinion. Oh, and reading over these forms. I need your help with them."

Brittany handed Santana a manila envelope, and directed Santana to sit back in the audience seats.

Brittany pressed play on her boom box, and music started to flow out.

"You ready Marvin?" Brittany called out to the A/V kid.

"Yes Brittany. Whenever you're ready!" He had moved closer to the stage with his camera.

"This is just a warm up song, and the next one is the real show, okay? So get your practice in now about the shots we talked about," Brittany commanded.

"Got it Britt!" Marvin replied.

Santana gave him a death glare at the A/V gremlin's use of _her_ nickname.

Marvin cowered. "any. Brittany. Ma'am. Sorry!"

"It's okay Marv. I don't care. Santana on the other hand…" Brittany gave Santana an admonishing look.

Santana looked back at her, shrugged and mouthed, "What?"

Brittany started to dance to the first song. She glided and jumped and turned and twisted and did everything with grace and beauty. Well, that was Santana's opinion. It never changed.

The second song began to play and Brittany was transformed. It was a riveting modern dance, with some hip-hop and ballet moves mixed in. Santana was mesmerized. Brittany finished the dance, curled up on the stage floor, panting and smiling.

"How'd it look Marv? Did you get it?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah, but I'd like to do it one more time, to get a few more close-ups if that's okay." Marvin explained.

"Sure, give me 15 minutes rest and I'll run through it again," Brittany smiled. She hopped down from the stage and sat next to Santana.

"So, what did you think?" Brittany asked shyly.

Santana looked at her, smiled and gave her a soft, warm kiss. "You were amazing, and beautiful and crazy hot," Santana smiled. "But what's all this for? Because I'm pretty sure none of us can do any of that for Glee club."

"It's all in the envelope. I thought you would've read it by now," Brittany pouted.

"Baby, I was busy watching you kill that dance. And you know when you dance, I can't do anything else except watch," Santana winked.

"And drool," Brittany added and tapped Santana's nose with her finger and smirked.

Santana saw Marvin out of the corner of her eye, gawking at them. Santana's face transformed into indignation and anger. She stood up and walked toward him.

Brittany called after her quietly, "Saaaan…please…"

Santana paused, then leaned over and spoke quietly in Marvin's ear.

"I'm considering medical school. What do you think about me practicing colonoscopies with that camera and your ass? Hmmm?" Santana threatened.

Marvin gulped and just shook his head "no".

"Then keep your eyes off of me and Britt. Are we clear?" Santana asked.

Marvin nodded "yes".

"Good. Now. You better be an amazing cameraman, or you and I will have this conversation again, when Brittany's not around," and Santana walked off.

Santana sat back down, kissed Brittany, and took the envelope that Brittany was holding for her.

Santana slid a small stack of papers out with letterheads reading:

"The Boston Conservatory"

"Julliard"

"American Musical and Dramatic Academy"

Santana looked up at Brittany shocked. Then looked through the forms again. Then looked up at Brittany and her face lit up.

"Is this? That's going to be your audition tape? For…you're applying to these colleges? Really?" Santana gasped.

Brittany just smiled and nodded. Proud of herself and giggling over Santana's thrilled demeanor.

Santana tackled Brittany with a bear hug and laughed.

"God, I'm so proud of you Britt," Santana whispered in her ear.

"Well, I saw the schools you were applying to, and I thought, well, I wanted to at least be in the same city if I could, you know, if I got in and you got in, and…we could maybe get a little crappy apartment together…and I don't know…it's silly, I guess," Brittany confessed.

Santana's eyes misted up, "Oh Britt. It's not silly at all, because I want that for us too. I really do," Santana's smile matched Brittany's.

Marvin coughed.

Santana broke her eyes from Brittany's and switched them to Marvin.

Marvin choked a little, "I uh, I have to leave soon."

Brittany turned Santana's face to hers, "Hay, I'm going to finish this, and then you're going to help me put this together, okay?"

Santana smiled and nodded in agreement.

**Wednesday evening – Lopez Home**

Santana finished setting the table for dinner as her mother walked in.

"How was your day today Mama?" Santana asked.

Mrs. Lopez stalled her step, cocked her head to the side, and looked up, then over to Santana. "Fiiine. Um…how was yours?"

Mrs. Lopez almost looked for head injuries on her daughter. Santana actually asked how her day was, without pretense or attitude or seemingly wanting anything. Oh, she wants something, Mrs. Lopez decided.

"My day was great. I helped Brittany with her audition tape," Santana beamed.

"Which college is Brittany looking at?" Mrs. Lopez smiled at Santana's excitement.

"The Boston Conservatory, in Boston, of course. Julliard, and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Those two are in New York," Santana sat up so straight and proud.

"That's wonderful honey! I assume, from what I know of those schools, Brittany wants to study dance and dance professionally?" Mrs. Lopez asked.

"She'd like to dance professionally, but really, in the end, she wants to teach dance," Santana explained.

"Well that's a steadier income and career," Mrs. Lopez reasoned.

"Always being practical Mama," Santana shook her head.

"So, have you given more thought to schools? I'm assuming Brittany's choices might be…influential?" Mrs. Lopez raised an eyebrow at Santana.

"Actually, my interest in Boston College, Columbia and NYU influenced her decision. Well, a little bit. Her picks are great schools – the best for dance. Plus, Massachusetts and New York Mama…I'd have the same rights as you if I lived there," Santana's smile faded a bit, then perked up. "Anyway, we have to get in first, right?" Santana asked.

"When you get in. Though Santana, I need you to make this decision for _you_ and _your_ education, not because Brittany might be there. Because if Brittany doesn't go to Boston or New York, I don't want that to influence your decision," Mrs. Lopez. "If New York and Boston are best for you, then we'll support you. Those are all wonderful schools."

The phone rang and Santana jumped up to answer. Santana read the caller ID: "Alma Lopez". Santana's hand dropped to her side, and dropped her head.

"Um, it's for you Mama," and Santana slinked away and walked up stairs to her bedroom.

Mrs. Lopez saw the caller ID and sighed, "Abuela. Great." and picked up the phone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Thursday Morning – Lopez Home**

Mrs. Lopez sat at the kitchen counter, her ear pressed to the phone. Her right hand rubbed her temple then ran through her hair.

"I talked to your mother last night," Mrs. Lopez said into the phone.

"Uh oh," Dr. Lopez replied.

"Yeah, it was cordial, but she's not budging on Santana," Mrs. Lopez explained.

"What did she say?" Dr. Lopez sounded concerned.

Mrs. Lopez let out a heavy sigh, "Nothing. She simply said 'We're not talking about this' and proceeded to ask me about picking her up for church Sunday."

Dr. Lopez sighed as well, "She needs more time."

"I know," Mrs. Lopez agreed. "But how much more time will it take? How many more awkward Christmases are we going to have? And until she gets it through her stubborn skull that Santana is in fact, not your father..."

"I know, I know," Dr. Lopez bit down on his bottom lip. "Doesn't help that Santana looks just like him though, huh?"

Mrs. Lopez breathed out a little chuckle, "That she does. He was a handsome man, and she's such a beautiful girl."

"I'll talk to her. I'll take her to church Sunday and talk to her," Dr. Lopez concluded.

"Thanks honey. I appreciate that. And I know Santana would too."

"Don't tell Santana though," Dr. Lopez cautioned. "I don't want to get her hopes up."

"I won't. I promise," Mrs. Lopez agreed.

"So how's my little girl, anyway? Sorry I didn't get to call the past two days…I've had a lot of 'bar meetings'," Dr. Lopez sighed.

"Sounds awful," Mrs. Lopez sarcastically replied.

"It is when drug reps, surgeons and hospital chiefs can't hold their liquor. Anyway, enough about me, how's my little girl?" Dr. Lopez pressed.

"Not so little. We've talked about dating, relationships, colleges, when she knew she was gay, when she and Brittany first started…well…their more than friendly friendship…"

"Baby, I've only been gone three days! How did you…what kind of dark magic are you spinning over there?" Dr. Lopez kidded.

"Ha! You haven't seen the number of antacids I've eaten in the past three days. You should buy stock in Tums. It's been difficult, but in the end, yes, very good. We had a breakthrough of sorts. I mean, don't worry, Santana is still your favorite emotionally tight-lipped daughter," Mrs. Lopez smiled.

Mrs. Lopez relayed all her chats with Santana and Dr. Lopez sat on his hotel room bed, smiling and nodding and tearing up. He was full of relief and love and sadness for his daughter's struggles.

**Thursday Afternoon – WMHS Bleachers**

Brittany and Santana sat on the top bleachers after Cheerios practice.

"You sure you don't want to grab a shower before we go home?" Brittany asked.

"Nah, I'll take one when I get home. I mean, unless you want to?" Santana replied.

"Nope. I can do that too," Brittany held Santana's hand and rubbed her thumb over Santana's. "So what's up? You said you wanted to talk? And you rarely want to do that, so I'm all ears San," Brittany smiled.

"Hay! I'm getting better thank you very much," Santana feigned hurt and smiled. "I wanted to let you know that my mom and I _have _been bonding…and talking…a LOT."

Brittany smiled and sat quietly, waiting for it.

"You were right," Santana admitted.

Brittany grinned smugly.

"Hay, don't go getting a big head, just because you're smarter than me," Santana retorted.

"Your mom is cooler than you thought, right?" Brittany commented, trying to get Santana back onto the real conversation at hand.

"Yeah," Santana smiled again. "She's a lot cooler about us and me than I thought. And weirdly understanding. I mean, she's not thrilled, at all, about me and sex being in the same universe, let alone the same sentence, but I guess that's to be expected. Right?" Santana questioned Brittany, looking for agreement.

"Of course. She's your mom. My mom didn't throw a party when she found out I was having sex. When I was 13 she even gave me the 'talk' in graphic, _really_ graphic detail, and that wasn't because she wanted to be thorough. I think she was trying to gross me out so I'd wait," Brittany explained with a laugh.

"And we know how well that worked," Santana added with a nudge.

"Well, she didn't explain sex with girls, so you know, that was a really nice surprise," Brittany smiled and kissed Santana's cheek.

"Hell yes," Santana agreed with a smile.

"So what else?" Brittany continued.

"Well the only downside to all of this, besides the crazy amount of awkward, is still my abuela," Santana frowned. "She called last night."

"Whoa, what did she say?" Brittany's hand left Santana's gripped and stroked the back of Santana's hair. Santana's eyes closed as she paused to enjoy the soothing pets.

"Nothing. I don't know. I didn't answer it. I saw the caller ID and walked away," Santana sighed. "Mama talked to her though. I have a feeling that's going to be tonight's topic of conversation," Santana grimaced.

"Wait, you guys have been talking _every_ day?" Brittany's eyes bugged out a little.

"Yep," Santana's lips tightened. "Mama's really putting out the effort. Or trying to pack a year's worth of 'mother-daughter talks' into one week."

"Well, that's not entirely her fault, is it San?" Brittany teased.

"Quit being right Britt…it's starting to get annoying," Santana smiled and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend.

**Thursday Evening – Lopez Home**

"Hay Mama?" Santana approached her mother who was sitting on the couch.

Mrs. Lopez turned her head and smiled. "What is it honey?"

"Can I have my laptop back tonight? I wanted to start helping Britt with her audition tape, and the editing software is on there," Santana explained.

"Is your homework done?"

Santana enthusiastically nodded and smiled.

"Yes, you may. But you're using it right here, okay?" Mrs. Lopez said, getting up. She returned from her office with the Mac Book and laid it on the coffee table. "All yours!"

Santana took out her flash drive and uploaded the footage to her computer. She made some rough edits and tried several times to cue up the downloaded music to play over the images of Brittany dancing. Santana closed the laptop with some frustration and sighed.

"Brittany looks amazing," Mrs. Lopez commented, not taking her eyes away from her TV show.

"Yeah," Santana whispered and smiled. "She really does."

/

Mrs. Lopez was cleaning up in the kitchen when Santana entered.

"Um, so, how's Abuela?" Santana tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Mrs. Lopez grimaced, "The same."

Santana sulked. "She's not going to change, is she?"

Mrs. Lopez looked at her daughter, and decided on blunt honesty, "Probably not sweetheart. I'd love to say she will, but she's, well…"

"I mean I know she's old and Catholic, but not all old Catholic people banish their grandkids," Santana interrupted. "Right?"

"That's true honey," Mrs. Lopez agreed.

"So what's her problem? How can she go from helping to raise me, to this?" Santana was frustrated.

"She still loves you, you know," Mrs. Lopez encouraged.

Santana grimaced and huffed. "She's got a messed up way of showing it."

"Well, she's messed up," Mrs. Lopez stated matter-of-factly.

Santana didn't say anything, and then realized her mother wasn't talking about her abuela's religion or generation gap. "Why?"

"Sit down honey. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but it may shed some light for you. I'm _not_ saying this to make excuses for your abuela in _anyway_, okay? There's no excuse for her banishing you from her house and her life, and I'm going to be honest, it's really her loss," Mrs. Lopez stroked Santana's arm.

"Do you know why she called you garbage face when you were little?"

"No, I just thought it was her twisted version of a pet name," Santana answered.

"It's because you look exactly like your abuelo. You're the spitting image of him, and as you know, those two didn't end well."

"Yeah, I've seen pictures," Santana agreed. "My abuelo was fine," she grinned. "And I know Abuelita left him and came to Ohio with dad when dad was what…in high school?" Santana was searching her memory.

"Yes. But do you know why she left him?"

Santana shrugged.

"Your abuelo was a good man, and a good father to your Dad. But he wasn't a good husband. He…how should I put this? He was like you, in more ways than looks," Mrs. Lopez explained, waiting for Santana to catch on. Santana looked a little baffled.

"Um, he was a singer? Athlete?" Santana asked.

"He was all those things. He used to sing in local clubs in Miami. He played baseball. He was a photographer. And he was very smart. Quite the Renaissance man actually. But that wasn't the problem for your abuela. The problem was your abuelo…He had 'gentleman friends'," Mrs. Lopez confessed.

Santana looked at her mother for about five seconds. "Wait, my abuelo was gay? Dad's dad was gay?"

Mrs. Lopez nodded.

"So he cheated on Abuela with guys, and she left him, huh?" Santana surmised.

"Sort of," Mrs. Lopez began. "It's not clear, and I don't think anyone will know how much your abuela knew or when she knew it, but she didn't leave him until people started to talk. And boy did they talk. They were both swept up in the rumor mill, and your abuela started getting socially shunned…it wasn't pretty apparently," Mrs. Lopez explained.

"So, she left your abuelo and moved up here to live with her sister and raise your father, though he was mostly raised by then," Mrs. Lopez smiled.

"So that's why Abuelita was so angry that I told her. She wanted me to keep it a secret. That the sin was in telling it," Santana realized.

"That's probably why she reacted as badly as she did, Santana, but again, that's no excuse. You're not your abuelo," Mrs. Lopez comforted.

"Did he die of AIDS?" Santana asked in a worried tone.

Mrs. Lopez nodded, "Pneumonia. But the HIV had weakened him…Anyway, yes."

"Is that why Dad volunteers at the clinic once a month?"

Mrs. Lopez nodded again, "That and he has a couple good friends from med school who are gay, and they're the ones that actually got him to volunteer at the clinic regularly."

Santana smiled. "Have I met them?"

Mrs. Lopez shook her head. "Nope. They're his golf buddies he goes to Myrtle Beach with every year. But he'll let you meet them next time," Mrs. Lopez smiled knowingly.

"Why, because I'm gay, so I should meet more gays. There's two guys in Glee club that are gay, and I don't even like them," Santana huffed.

"But you do stick up for them," Mrs. Lopez replied matter-of-factly.

Santana shot a surprised look at her mother, "What are you talking about? I did no such thing!"

"You don't think Burt Hummel and I talk when I take my car in for an oil change? His son talks to him _all_ the time," Mrs. Lopez teased.

Santana shook her head and sighed, "I'm gonna kill lady lips."

"Hay, let me lay down some advice when it comes praise. Enjoy it, because it's few and far between as an adult. Apparently Kurt and Blaine were grateful for your help, and Burt told me to thank you for looking out for him. Don't be ashamed of your charitable side, your sweet and loving side, your sense of justice side. There's nothing weak about helping someone. Ever. Got it?" Mrs. Lopez lectured.

"Got it," Santana smiled and sighed. "Oh, so back to my Dad's fabulous friends. Why would he want me to meet them now?"

"Because they want to meet you and your Dad kept them on the phone for I don't know how many hours asking for advice when we thought, maybe you liked girls more than you were letting on," Mrs. Lopez rolled her eyes.

Santana laughed, "Some advice. He just hugged me and said 'I love you' over and over again."

"That's because they said, if and when you come out, if your father forgot all the things they told him, he could remember the most important thing. And he did," Mrs. Lopez explained.

Santana's eyes misted up, "He did great. You both did great."

Mrs. Lopez walked over and gave her daughter a huge hug and kissed her cheek. Santana and her mother just stood there, and hugged for a few minutes. Santana loved her mama's warm, soft hugs, that mixed with her Chanel No 5 perfume. And Mrs. Lopez loved it when Santana dropped everything she ever picked up as a teenager and hugged her like she was a little girl again. And for a few minutes, one night in the kitchen, they were just a mother and daughter, thankful for one another.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Friday Morning – WMHS**

Santana bounced up to Brittany who was leaning against her locker. Brittany smiled down at her and turned, "What's got you so happy this morning? You _do_ know it's morning right? The time of day you're allergic to?" Brittany teased.

"Last day of punishment. Tomorrow: Freedom! You, me, and the roomy back seat of my car," Santana grinned.

"Wow, you really know how to charm a girl San," Brittany winked.

"Hay! I'll throw in dinner and movie," Santana replied with a smirk. "Plus, we can hit up the mall for some retail therapy before hand."

"Wow, shopping, dinner, movie…I just don't know if I'll have the energy for backseat lovin' after such a big day," Brittany feigned disappointment.

Santana smacked Brittany on the arm, "Don't even kid about that, Britt. It's been for_ever_ since we've had some time to ourselves. Just us." Santana looked up at Brittany through her eyelashes and Brittany blushed.

"Yeah," Brittany whispered and ran her hand down Santana's arm and looked her over from head to toe. Brittany bit her lip. "This is going to be a _long_ day."

Santana nodded. "And an even longer night," Santana whispered back.

Santana and Brittany are jarred out of their pent up sexual tension haze by a cell phone ringing. In Santana's backpack.

"Aren't you going to get that?" Brittany asks.

"Get what, wait? Is that mine?" Santana looks startled and starts rifling through her backpack.

"Who else has the storm trooper theme ring tone for her parent's phone number," Brittany explained.

"Well it was either that or the theme from Jaws," Santana explained.

Santana picked up her cell phone out of her backpack and answered, "Mama, I swear, I have _no_ idea how my cell phone got in my backpack. I haven't seen it since you took if off of my last Saturday. Honest. I swear…"

"Santana, I put the phone in your backpack this morning. You get it a day early," Mrs. Lopez explained. "But it's also for a practical purpose. I'm picking you up after school today, so don't take the late bus. Call me when you're done with practice. Okay?"

"Um…yeah…sure Mama," Santana furrowed her brow and smiled. "Um…thanks?"

"You're welcome honey. I'll talk to you later. Have a good day at school," Mrs. Lopez hung up.

Santana pressed the end button on her cell phone, still staring at the screen, "Huh. Mama's picking me up after school."

"She say why?" Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and started pulling her down the hall.

"No, which has me worried," Santana confessed.

"Well, I'll have to try to keep your mind off of that then," Brittany said, keeping her eyes ahead, looking down the hall, determined and confident and smiling.

Santana looked up sideways at Brittany, and smiled, "I wonder if you can die from teasing?" Santana thought as they walked to their classes.

Brittany didn't even have to _do_ anything to Santana that day. Santana was all worked up just at the thought that Brittany _might_ get suggestive, and touchy.

**Friday afternoon – WMHS Locker room**

Brittany and Santana were able to wait out the Cheerios, and get the shower room alone. "_Finally!_" breathed Santana.

They weren't in a hurry. Santana's mother was going to pick her up and if Brittany _accidentally_ missed the late bus, well, Santana assumed her mother would gladly drop Brittany off at her house. Perfect plan.

So they took their time. Washing each other's hair and then bodies. It was their slow sudsy foreplay. When they were both rinsed, Santana slowly brought her eyes to meet Brittany's and held them there, as she reached up and ran her fingers gently over Brittany's mouth, then down her chin, along her collarbone and between her breasts. Santana stopped her hand at Brittany's hipbone, just as Brittany's breath had doubled its pace.

Santana just held Brittany's gaze and smiled, reaching a hand behind Brittany's head and stroking her wet hair, down to the side of her neck and stopped there, her thumb stroking Brittany's pulse point.

Brittany smiled back and leaned down to kiss Santana, wrapping her arms around the small of her back. As they kissed and let their hands wander, they heard the distinct loud bang of the locker room door.

They froze, stepped back from one another and quickly turned off the water and grabbed towels. They heard footsteps approaching.

"Jesus fucking Christ! I can't catch a break this week," Santana hissed under her breath as she wrapped the towel around her body and turned to see Becky standing by the lockers.

Brittany's face brightened, "Hi Becky! How are you?" Brittany asked, toweling off. She had no shame and it was driving Santana nuts that Brittany wouldn't cover up. Brittany three feet away and naked is not how Santana preferred her Brittany naked.

"Coach says your Mom is waiting for you Santana," Becky stated, her arms crossed at her chest. "Coach also says to stop having sex in the locker room," Becky said as she turned on her heel and promptly walked out.

Santana looked at Brittany, her mouth agape.

"Wait, my Mom was supposed to call first, wasn't she?" Santana asked Brittany. "And why does Coach think we're having sex in here?"

"Probably because we're the last ones to take a shower, after everyone leaves, like, _all_ the time," Brittany explained. "She may be mean, but she's not stupid San."

Santana pursed her lips and walked over to her gym bag. She picked up her cell phone and there was the text from her Mom, letting her know she'd be at the school 30 minutes ago.

"Guess we lost track of time, huh?" Santana looked over at Brittany starting to get dressed.

Brittany smiled back at her and winked, "Time well spent."

Santana chuckled then shook her head, "Not _enough_ time dammit. Now I'm all worked up and have to spend time with my Mom. This is _not_ going to be fun."

Santana and Brittany entered Coach Sylvester's office to find Coach and Mrs. Lopez looking at them and their wet hair with raised eyebrows and judging looks.

"Sorry, long line for the showers…had to wait," Santana mumbled out an excuse. "Sorry I missed your text Mama."

"That's okay honey. It gave me time to talk with Coach Sylvester here. It's been very…enlightening," Mrs. Lopez replied.

Santana gulped. Horrible visions of everything Coach knew or thought she knew about Santana and Brittany flashed through her head.

Santana gathered herself and forced a smile, "Good. I'm glad. Uh, Mama, would it be okay if we gave Britt a ride home. Uh, she kind of missed the late bus."

Mrs. Lopez saw Santana rubbing her thumbs into her palms. They were still wrinkled from her long shower "I see. And who's fault is that?" she asked Santana with a smirk. Santana's face reddened.

They said their quick good byes to Coach Sylvester before she kicked them out of her office and Mrs. Lopez drove Brittany to her home.

"You girls have big plans for tomorrow?" Mrs. Lopez asked as they drove though the streets of Lima.

"Nah," Santana feigned boredom. "Just the mall, grab something to eat, then maybe a movie," Santana shrugged.

Brittany squeezed Santana's hand and gave her a wink and a nudge. This did not go unnoticed by Mrs. Lopez.

"So, you won't have a problem making your curfew then? I want you in the house no later than 11, you got that?" Mrs. Lopez reminded them.

"Yes Mama," Santana said with an eye roll.

Mrs. Lopez pulled up to Brittany's house.

"Thanks Mrs. L," Brittany called as she stepped out of the car.

"I'm just going to walk Britt to the door Mama," Santana said as she quickly followed Brittany out and up her walkway.

Mrs. Lopez sighed and looked after them, shaking her head.

She watched as Brittany and Santana stood at the Pierce's front door, hand-in-hand. She saw Santana reach up on her toes to kiss Brittany goodbye, her hands looping around Brittany's neck. Brittany's hands rested a little too close to Santana's butt for Mrs. Lopez's comfort, so she sighed and looked away, smiling.

Santana got back into the car, "So Mama, you never told me why you were picking me up from school. What's with the door-to-door car service? Not that I'm complaining."

"Well, I really enjoyed being home with you this week to be honest," Mrs. Lopez looked kindly over at her daughter. "I know it wasn't all fun and games, but, it really meant a lot to me, so I thought I'd treat you," Mrs. Lopez explained.

Santana smiled at her mother's demeanor and words. She studied her lap and responded quietly. "Thanks Mama. I wouldn't call this week _fun_, at all, really. No offense. But, it meant…it was good," Santana replied, fidgeting with her seatbelt in her lap.

Mrs. Lopez pulled the car up to a small strip of stores, "Here we are," she announced.

Santana looked up and around at the strip of stores, "Um, you're taking me to a bar?" Santana asked, noticing the neon beer signs in the window in front of the car.

Mrs. Lopez chuckled, "No, we're going there," she pointed.

Santana followed her finger to a small boutique salon at the end of the strip. "Mani-pedi is on me," Mrs. Lopez smiled.

Santana's feet were soaking in a footbath and a nail technician was buffing her nails.

"Do you want tips?" the technician asked. "We've got some great choices," she offered enthusiastically.

"Uh, no. Thank you," Santana smiled.

Her mother looked at her sideways.

"What? I have to keep 'em short for cheerleading. Coach's rule, not mine," Santana looked from her mother to the mirror in front of her and started feeling impetuous and smirked. "Get you mind out of the gutter Mama."

"Don't get mouthy Santana. Not with me," her mother warned with a smirk. "And I never associate my lovely daughter with a gutter. Ever. And you shouldn't either."

"I don't Mama. I promise," Santana replied quietly.

"Good. After this, dinner's on me," Mrs. Lopez smiled.

"Breadstix?" Santana's head whipped around in excitement.

"Absolutely not. Trust me. Where we're going is much better," Mrs. Lopez assured her.

"What's better than Breadstix?" Santana whined.

"You'll see," Mrs. Lopez smiled knowingly.

**Friday Evening – Restaurant**

Mrs. Lopez drove them just outside of town, and pulled up to a non-descript Victorian house with a white wooden sign hanging near the front door. It read in black script letters, "The Country Inn".

"This place looks nice Mama…am I dressed okay?" Santana started to feel self-conscious.

"Your fine honey. Even though this is a nice place, it's casual," Mrs. Lopez assured.

Santana gripped onto the handmade antique wrought iron handle and opened the door for her mother. They stepped inside and Santana took in the wide board floors, the white ceilings with the dark beams, the oak bar, the slate-top tables, the low cozy lighting, red glass jar candle holders dotting all the tables. A fire was lit in the stone fireplace. Older couples and young professionals filled several tables. It was a small place, but so warm and friendly. The closest comparison for Santana was that it looked like a full sized hobbit home from Lord of the Rings, without the round doors…or hobbits. "Berry would feel so at home here," Santana mused.

A blonde server in her mid twenties greeted Mrs. Lopez and Santana, "Ileana! Welcome back," she smiled and looked at Santana. "I'm Kat. I'll be taking care of you this evening."

Mrs. Lopez smiled at her and chatted with Kat. Asking her about her family. Santana followed behind them as they sat near the fireplace. A wine list, and two leather-bound menus were placed in front of them. Santana flipped it open and began looking at the choices.

Kat filled their water and brought Mrs. Lopez red wine and Santana's diet coke. After they put in their orders, Santana opened up the napkins covering the warm, homemade bread rolls in the basket at the center of the table. The butter for the bread was herb-infused and according to the moan of approval from Santana as she took her first bite, that butter and those rolls blew Breadstix out of the water.

"Damn, Mama, these are awesome," Santana sighed.

"And that's just the rolls," Mrs. Lopez smiled.

Kat brought out their meals and Santana and her mother dug in.

A man in his mid-50s approached the table. He was in black checkered chef pants and a black chef's jacket.

"Ileana, lovely to see you," he greeted her. Mrs. Lopez smiled and shook the chef's hand.

"Sergio, dinner is spectacular as usual. Good to see you," Mrs. Lopez smiled.

"Is this your Santana?" Sergio asked, smiling at Santana.

Santana forced a smile. She didn't like that her mother had talked about her with someone she's never heard of. No matter how good a chef he was.

"Santana, this is Sergio. He's the owner and chef here."

"Nice to meet you," Santana took his extended hand and squeezed it. "This salmon is literally melting in my mouth. It's amazing," she complimented.

"Thank you, you're too kind. When Kat came back and said you were here Ileana, and brought your daughter, well, I knew I had to pull out all the stops," Sergio beamed.

"Serg, there's no need to flatter so much," Mrs. Lopez chuckled.

"Well, with that, I have to get back in the kitchen. Leave room for dessert. I have a special this evening. Nice meeting you Santana."

Sergio walked back toward the kitchen, stopping at a couple more tables, and talked with the guests.

"He was flirting with you," Santana observed.

"Nonsense. We go way back. Your father and I have been coming here for nearly ten years," Mrs. Lopez explained.

"How come I've never heard of this place?" Santana was suspicious.

"Because parents are people too Santana, and like you, we like something that's just ours," Mrs. Lopez smiled. "And as you can see, it's really not the high school crowd here. It's a quiet little place."

"So why bring me here now?" Santana asked, finishing up the last bites of her meal.

Mrs. Lopez put down her fork and took a sip of her wine. "Because you're not a little girl anymore. You're grown up. And after this week, I had a feeling you'd appreciate this more."

"Thanks Mama. I do. I appreciate it," Santana smiled.

"Maybe you'll bring Brittany here, mmm?" Mrs. Lopez suggested. "Valentine's Day perhaps?"

Santana squirmed a little in her seat and shrugged.

Mrs. Lopez frowned a little at her. "Santana. Be honest."

Santana dropped the act and smiled. "I think this place would really…I think she'd love it."

Kat came by and cleared their plates and refilled Santana's glass.

"Sorry Mama. Habit. It's just weird that you're suggesting a romantic dinner for me and Britt. I mean, it's nice. It's good. It's just…"

"New? Yes, well it's new for me too sweetheart, so I know how you feel. But I figured you could handle it," Mrs. Lopez smiled.

"Baby steps Mama. Baby steps," Santana smiled back.

Kat came by with the special dessert for the evening, "Two pots of chocolate ladies."

Santana's jaw dropped. A ceramic pot, filled with dark Belgian chocolate mousse with dark, milk and white chocolate shavings on top.

"Wow," Santana exclaimed, eyeing the dessert and picking up her spoon to dig in.

"Just wait until you taste it Santana. You'll be in heaven," Mrs. Lopez commented.

Santana was. She savored every mouthful of the silky rich chocolate dessert.

"Britt will _love_ this," Santana replied, then frowned. "But if this is a special tonight, I can't guarantee it for my dinner with Britt."

Kat came by and brought out the check.

"Kat? Can you send Sergio out when he has a moment?" Mrs. Lopez asked.

"Sure thing Ileana."

"Mama, what are you doing?" Santana whispered.

"Asking Sergio to have the dessert when you make a reservation for your date with Brittany," Mrs. Lopez explained matter-of-factly.

"Um…is he going to care that I'm on a date with a girl?"

Mrs. Lopez chuckled and shook her head.

"Why are you laughing?" Santana asked, a little hurt.

"Sorry honey. I forgot you don't know. Kat's Sergio's daughter and also a lesbian. He wouldn't have one problem with you bringing Brittany here on a date. Actually, I'll give you fair warning, he'll probably be very enthusiastic about it," Mrs. Lopez explained.

Sergio approached the table before Santana could reply to her mother.

"Ileana, Santana, how was everything this evening?" Sergio inquired.

"Perfect Serg. Just perfect. Santana loved the dessert the best, didn't you honey?"

Santana was busy scraping the bottom of the pot, trying to get the last bit of chocolate on her spoon. She looked up and nodded and smiled.

"So Serg," Mrs. Lopez began, "Santana loved dinner so much _and _the dessert, she's thinking of bringing her girlfriend here for a Valentine's Day date. We were wondering if the Pot of Chocolate would be on the menu that night?"

Sergio looked down at Santana and beamed. "I would be honored if you made my humble inn your Valentine's Day destination. And when you make the reservation, request the dessert and I'll make sure there's two here for you," Sergio smiled kindly at Santana.

"Thank you," Santana smiled shyly. "If it's not too much trouble?"

"Nonsense. For you and your special lady? Consider it done." Sergio bid them goodnight and walked off.

Mrs. Lopez paid the bill and they made their way back to the car and started driving back home.

"So, decent night with your mom?" Mrs. Lopez asked.

"Yeah Mama. Thanks so much. The salon, the dinner…it was great. Really. Thanks for taking the time and…well, just thanks," Santana smiled appreciatively at her mother.

"Well, we don't do this often enough. In less than a year, you're going to be out of the house. Grown up. In college. My New Year's Resolution was too not let life, our life, get away from me. Hope that's okay with you. Though I can't promise spa and special dinners every time," Mrs. Lopez smiled.

Santana chuckled, "That's okay Mama. Grand gestures are great and all, but I like the little stuff too, you know?" Santana's voice was tentative.

"Me too honey. Me too. More little stuff it is," Mrs. Lopez smiled.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Saturday Morning – Lopez Home**

Mrs. Lopez stood by the stove flipping pancakes. Dr. Lopez snuck up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the cheek.

"Those for Santana?" Dr. Lopez asked.

"Yes they are. A thank you of sorts for not running away or fighting me this week," she smiled.

"I went in this morning and just watched her sleep," Dr. Lopez sighed. "I know she's grown up, but seeing her like that; she still seems like my little girl," Dr. Lopez shook his head.

"I know. Believe me, I know. I don't know where the time went. Seems like just yesterday I was patching scraped knees and putting her hair in pigtails. Now I'm talking about sex and relationships and college with her. Ugh. I feel like I've aged 20 years this week," Mrs. Lopez chuckled.

"You look just like the day I married you," Dr. Lopez flattered.

"Liar," Mrs. Lopez scolded. "Now get out of here and get to your golf game or you'll never hear the end of it from your buddies," Mrs. Lopez dismissed him.

* * *

><p>Santana awoke to the aroma of coffee and maple syrup. The scents urged her eyes open. There was a tray next to her bed with coffee and pancakes. "The little things <em>are <em>nice," thought Santana.

Santana sat up in bed and sipped her coffee and started digging into her pancakes when she saw her car keys on the tray as well. All Santana saw was freedom, and her mind immediately switched from pancakes to Brittany. Santana smiled and sighed. She was really looking forward to a day filled with Brittany instead of a day filled with her mother.

Santana drank her coffee and finished her pancakes and spun the car key ring around her finger. "Thank you Mama," she thought. As the keys lay cool in her hand, she thought about her week with her mother. The awkwardness, the discomfort, the fear, the odd intimacy of their talks. Santana was trying to figure out if this was normal mother-daughter behavior, or just the new normal for her and Mama. She didn't have an answer, and at that moment, she didn't mind not knowing.

Santana was starting to get used to the idea that sharing her feelings wasn't the end of the world, or even a bad thing. Upon reflection, the past week, with all the talk of feelings and relationships, only resulted in good. "With feelings, it's better," thought Santana. She chuckled to herself and shook her head, "Who knew that applied to things other than sex?"

* * *

><p>Santana entered the kitchen, freshly showered and dressed, and approached her mother, "Thanks for breakfast Mama," Santana said with a smile and a kiss on her mother's cheek.<p>

Mrs. Lopez smiled, "You survived a week with me. And I survived asking you tough questions, so it only seemed fitting that I treat you one last time before you rush out of here and over to Brittany's."

Santana mocked hurt, "Mama! I'd never!" Santana said with a smirk. "I'm picking her up in a couple hours so we can get our shopping on."

"So about this date tonight?" Mrs. Lopez started to ask.

Santana rolled her eyes, "Oh my God Mama, please," Santana whined. "I swear I'll be home by curfew."

"What I was about to ask was, shopping, dinner and movie…then what?"

"What do you mean?" Santana's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What are you doing after the movie?" Mrs. Lopez inquired.

"Um…hanging out," Santana shrugged. "I dunno. I hadn't thought that far ahead," Santana lied.

"Huh…right, okay," Mrs. Lopez didn't seem convinced. "Anyway, we might be getting snow tonight. So please be careful driving home okay? Call if it gets too bad. I can pick you up in the SUV."

"Thanks Mama. We'll be careful. Promise," Santana relaxed and got ready to pick up Brittany.

**Saturday Late Afternoon - Breadstix**

Brittany and Santana dropped their shopping bags off at Santana's car and made their way to Breadstix for dinner.

It was a fun day of shopping, especially trying to out-sexy each other in the Victoria Secret changing room. There were a couple of purchases there that definitely passed the "drool worthy" test.

"So Britt," Santana spoke after finishing her dinner. "I was wondering about Valentine's Day."

"Aww San, are you going to ask me to be your Valentine?" Brittany giggled.

"Stop making fun of me Britt, or no sweet lady kisses later," Santana teased.

"Well as long as I get all the other sweet lady stuff, I guess I can pass on the kisses," Brittany winked.

Santana shook her head. "_Anyway_, Valentine's Day. I want to take you out to dinner. Some place special."

Brittany nodded enthusiastically. "That's so sweet San. I'd love to," she smiled and held Santana's hand across the table. Santana held it there, and took a sip of her water, and just smiled back at Brittany.

Brittany sat there and finished her dessert, holding Santana's hand, and marveled at how far she'd come in just a couple of months. Sitting in a restaurant, in rural Ohio, holding hands, in front of everyone. Brittany sighed.

"Let's skip the movie," Brittany offered.

Santana cocked an eyebrow and smirked, "Oh yeah Britt? What did you have in mind?"

**Saturday Evening – Santana's Car – Lima City Park**

The snow had started falling during dinner, but the roads were still clear. Black tire tracks criss-crossed the lightly powered roads as Santana pulled her car into the parking lot and chose a secluded space under a fir tree and away from the street lights.

Brittany slid into the backseat and patted the space next to her. Santana smiled at her through the rearview mirror, but got out of the car and popped open the trunk. Santana joined Brittany in the backseat with a duffel bag.

"What's this?" Brittany asked, pulling at the duffel bag.

"Sleeping bag, hand warmers, blanket, granola bars, flares, Gatorade…um…" Santana paused rifling through the bag some more.

Brittany stopped her, "San, why do you have all this in your car?"

"My Dad makes me keep it in here in the winter. He got stuck overnight in a snowstorm out in the middle of nowhere, so ever since then, he insists on having a 'Winter Survival Kit' in all our cars. However, _my_ plans for this blanket and sleeping bag are definitely more fun than survival," Santana winked.

They laid down the sleeping bag and snuggled under the blanket. Brittany lightly stroked Santana's face, and studied all her features. Santana started getting self-conscious.

"What Britt?"

"Nothing," Brittany answered quietly. "It's just that I missed you this week. I missed this," Brittany whispered and leaned in and kissed Santana.

Santana wrapped her arms tighter around Brittany and pressed into the kiss. She could feel Brittany's chest breathe into hers, her leg shifting to slide in between Brittany's.

"I missed this too," Santana replied as their lips pulled away from each other. "We're going to have to make these moments count a lot more, since our parents decided to make new rules," Santana sighed.

"We always make it count San. But I think we're going to have to, maybe, appreciate this a little more. You know?" Brittany said.

Santana just nodded and smiled and started kissing up Brittany's neck. Brittany sighed and ran her hands up Santana's back, gently up and down. Santana squirmed at the light touch.

"Britt, that tickles," Santana chuckled into Brittany's neck. Brittany stopped and slid her hand deliberately to Santana's butt and grabbed it and pulled Santana into her body more.

"Better?" Brittany asked.

"Much," Santana agreed as she rolled her hips against Brittany's and her hands started to wander.

The rumble of the snowplows was the only noise to compete with Santana and Brittany's whispers and gasps as they made love that evening. Because most of their clothes were still on, every touch of skin was a gift. They appreciated not only the moment, but each kiss, and every moan.

As they cuddled, coming down from their emotional and physical highs, Santana's phone rang.

Brittany jumped.

"Don't worry Britt. It's just my alarm. I wanted to make sure I didn't miss curfew, and end up being grounded again," Santana smiled.

"Good thinking," Brittany smiled.

"Yeah, I can honestly say, I totally learned my lesson this week. I'm not doing anything to jeopardize 'us' time," Santana explained.

Santana sat up and buttoned her pants, re-hooked her bra and slid into the front seat. Brittany quickly followed and gave Santana a kiss on the cheek. Santana smiled back at her, put the car in reverse. The tires slipped in the snow, but the car backed out and Santana was able to drive toward the park entrance. The problem was, the entrance was blocked. The snowplows had piled the excess snow from the road and the parking lot across the street into the park entrance.

"Oh fuck," Santana sighed, defeated.

"How are we going to get home?" Brittany asked.

"Well, we either call Mama, or walk. Both options suck," Santana explained.

"Let's walk," Brittany suggested. It's beautiful and so quiet with snow muffling everything. Let's walk," Brittany decided.

"You sure Britt? It'll take a half hour," Santana explained.

"I just don't want this night to end yet," Brittany answered.

Santana didn't either.

Hand in hand, they walked down the streets toward Santana's home. Brittany kept stealing glances at Santana, loving how the snowflakes looked peppering Santana's dark hair and lashes. Brittany smiled and sighed. Life was good. Really good.

**11:05pm – Lopez Home**

"You're late," Santana heard as she closed the front door behind Brittany.

Santana looked at the clock above the mantle, flickering in the glow of the fireplace warm and inviting.

"Five minutes Mama," Santana pleaded. "We would've been home sooner, but my car got plowed in and we had to walk," Santana explained as she dusted the snow off Brittany's hair and shoulders.

"Where did you walk from? You didn't walk all the way from the movies?" Mrs. Lopez looked shocked.

"No, no not that far," Santana replied, kicking off her snowy shoes and motioning Brittany to warm up in front of the fire.

Mrs. Lopez cocked her eyebrow and looked at Santana sideways. "So, where were you?"

Santana didn't reply.

"You're going to have to tell me eventually, since I'm going to have to take you to pick up your car tomorrow, so it might as well be now," Mrs. Lopez explained, her arms crossing her chest.

Santana looked at Brittany, and Brittany looked back at her with a smile and a shrug.

"Um, my car is…mycarsatthepark," Santana mumbled quickly, looking down at her feet. She looked up at her mother slowly.

Mrs. Lopez took a moment to register what Santana had said, "The park? You were…," it dawned on Mrs. Lopez. "Parking at the park? In this weather?" Mrs. Lopez shook her head with disbelief and a small smile. "What am I going to do with you?"

Santana shrugged and flashed her mother an apologetic smile.

"Um, is it okay if Brittany stays the night, you know, because of the snow and all?" Santana asked quietly. Brittany looked up at Mrs. Lopez expectantly.

"Of course you can stay Brittany. I'll call your mother," Mrs. Lopez said and turned to the stairs. Brittany and Santana grinned at each other, and gave each other a quick sly high-five.

"I'll just go make up the spare bed," Mrs. Lopez called as she finished ascending the stairs.

Brittany and Santana's faces fell.

"Fuck," Santana breathed.

"It's okay San," Brittany consoled. "Let's watch a movie and get our cuddle on."

"Pajamas first," Santana replied. Brittany and Santana raced each other up stairs and into Santana's bedroom. Santana gave Brittany some clothes to sleep in and they started stripping of their cold wet clothes.

Mrs. Lopez, across the hall making up the spare bed, heard the girls goofing off and giggling behind the closed door of Santana's bedroom.

"Door!" Mrs. Lopez shouted across the hall.

"We're just changing Mama, jeez!" Santana yelled back and quickly emerged from the bedroom in her pajamas. "We're gonna watch a movie," Santana said as she led Brittany out of her bedroom and down the stairs.

Mrs. Lopez looked after them and smiled and rolled her eyes. "Teenagers," she breathed and chuckled.

Santana was trying to decide between _WALL-E_ and _Finding Nemo_, as Brittany arranged cushions and throws on the couch so they could cuddle up together.

Brittany lay down against the back of the couch and lifted the blanket and looked over at Santana expectantly. Santana grabbed the remote control, smiled and settled in under the covers in front of Brittany. Brittany slid her arm over Santana's and squeezed her closer to her body. Santana tangled her feet with Brittany's, trying to warm them up and shifted her back against Brittany's chest. Santana sighed and Brittany leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Best post-grounding date ever," Brittany whispered in Santana's ear. Santana just smiled and nodded and held Brittany's hand tighter to her chest.

Mrs. Lopez had finished prepping the guest bedroom and went through her own nightly routine of changing and washing and turning off the lights. She walked down stairs to check the locks on the doors and saw _WALL-E_ playing on the TV. She walked to the couch to check on the girls.

There was Santana, fast asleep, spooned by Brittany who lightly snored into the back of Santana's neck. Brittany's arm still looped over Santana and Santana's hand kept Brittany's clasped over her heart. Mrs. Lopez smiled at the peaceful sight. Mrs. Lopez turned off the TV, closed the fireplace doors and returned to the couch. She leaned down and kissed Brittany on top of her head and kissed Santana on her forehead.

Santana stirred a little and mumbled, "Love you Mama."

"Love you too sweetheart," Mrs. Lopez whispered, then made her way back up the stairs.

**The End**

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Thank you dear readers, for the reviews, the favorites and all the story alerts! Your flattery will get you everywhere with me.

You're all lovely, lovely people. Carry on with your awesome selves.


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